Information Technology still the sector of choice for engineering graduates: Nielsen

Company Breif

Mumbai, May 28, 2008

The Information Technology (IT) industry has once again retained its mantle as the most coveted employment sector for engineering students in the class of 2009 according to the 6th round of Nielsen’s Campus Track T-Schools study. According to Nielsen, among the Top 5 preferred companies, four hail from the IT sector. The Top three preferred companies in the engineering campuses are Tata Consultancy Services, Google, and Accenture. For students in the non-IT sector, Nielsen found automotive to be the most preferred industry sector.

“Information Technology has been the most sought-after industry for some time now. Even engineers specializing in other disciplines such as chemical, mechanical and civil, want to start their career in IT - because of the prospects the sector brings with it in terms of better pay and the opportunity to work abroad. When it comes to auto, India is in the midst of an auto revolution, with several multinational auto giants setting up shop here and indigenous brands like Tata Motors on the verge of creating history with Nano. Quite likely, this will garner interest among engineering students keen to be part of the revolution. ” mentioned Vatsala Pant, Associate Director, Client Solutions, The Nielsen Company.

Nielsen Campus Track T-Schools ’08 surveyed the attitudes of students towards recruiting companies, and the factors used to evaluate prospective employers. The findings are designed to help companies develop personnel strategies to attract the best talent from engineering campuses. Nielsen Campus Track T-Schools analyses the various dimensions students look for to evaluate prospective employers. Thereafter, each company is evaluated on a host of employment dimensions, which are aggregated to compute a ‘Campus Recruiter Index’ (CRI), providing the overall standing of the company in the eyes of students.

When looking at the crème-de-la-crème students from the IITs, interestingly it is not just any IT company they are interested in, but Schlumberger (Oilfield services provider), a company perceived as the ‘Best recruiter’. These students also fancied Management Consultancies, Investment Banks, and Foreign Banks as their preferred career destination.

Future industries

Students perceived IT Services & Products, Nanotechnology, Management Consultancy, Energy-Oil & Gas, and Financial Sector as the top five ‘industries of the future’. When it comes to students from top-rung premier (IITs) institutes, energy sector and Investment Banks are considered the future industries.

“Though IT companies continue to be favourite among engineering students, we can expect to see them face the heat from unexpected quarters in the years ahead - through the resurgence of the Energy – Oil & Gas sector, the entry of financial services and banking firms on technology campuses, and an upsurge of Nanotechnology, key to success for companies like Intel, Apple, Biocon etc,” continued Pant.

Looking ahead - attrition rates on the rise

Although there is still a year to go before embarking on their career, more than 60 percent of 2009 graduates plan to leave their first job in three years or less in search of better career opportunities, advanced studies or entrepreneurship. Among those keen to pursue higher studies, about 66 percent intend to do an MBA, with the trend more obvious among students of premier engineering colleges (IITs and NITs).

Zeroing in on “The Company”

Opportunities to work with a team of technically sound people, the chance to work in a growing sector and learning on the job to gain expertise in a certain domain are the top three factors cited when choosing a company. The study also indicated that large corporates, good job content and hands-on exposure on the job are also paramount for selection.

‘Salary’, which didn’t feature as an important motivators, was viewed more as a hygiene factor by the students, suggesting that if a company fails to address this issue, it would have an adverse impact on its image. Remuneration packages in India are experiencing an increase by a few lakhs every year. This year the remuneration expected from ‘Dream Companies’ is slightly above Rs.11 lakhs, a little more than a 20 percent increase from last year.

For further information, please contact:

The Nielsen Company

Jayashree Janardhanan

Mob: +91-22-66632825

e-mail: jayashree.janardhanan@nielsen.com